40 Developmental Assets®

The 40 Developmental Assets® framework was created by Search Institute consisting of preventative measures, positive experiences, and qualities that young people need to grow up healthy, caring and responsible. These assets are protective factors that have been consistently shown, by research, to buffer youth from risk.

The more assets a child has the higher probability that child will not be involved in behaviors such as: teen pregnancy, school dropout, substance abuse, delinquency or violence.

Assets are concrete, positive, common sense experiences and qualities that:

Provide understanding of what young people need to succeed and be healthy

Focus on solutions rather than problems

Are powerful predictors of behavior

Protective factors that inhibit behaviors such as alcohol and drug abuse, sexual intercourse, and school failure

Enhancement factors that promote positive development

Resiliency factors that help youth to cope with and avoid difficult situations

There are two catergories of assets: external assets and internal assets. External assets are the assets that center around positive experiences from the people and experiences in a young person's life. Internal assets are those that focus on individual qualities that guide positive choices and develop a sense of confidence, passion, and purpose. Under both external and internal categories are sub categories: support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, constructive use of time, commitment to learning, positive values, socal competencies, positive identity.